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THE BOOK OF WORDS by J.V. Jones
The Baker’s Boy kicks off the exciting Book of Words trilogy. These are J.V. Jones‘ first published books and already she had pinned down all that we as fantasy lovers enjoy most about our genre: picturesque settings, dangerous cities, noble and mysterious heroes, three-dimensional villains, plotting royalty, charismatic rogues. And it’s all seasoned with just the right amount of sorcery.
I was introduced to J.V. Jones with A Cavern of Black Ice,
July 2nd, 2007. Greg Hersom´s rating: 4 | J.V. Jones | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Gods’ Concubine by Sara Douglass
I bought the previous book in this series, Hades’ Daughter, because it was based loosely on Greek and British myth. I shelved it for a long time because I hated the characters. I finally, reluctantly, read it again, because I was still interested in its storyline — and realized that despite the characters, I did like the book.
And then I devoured Gods’ Concubine in two days, and can’t wait until the third installment, which is supposed to take place during the Restoration period.
July 2nd, 2007. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Sara Douglass | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Runes of the Earth by Stephen R. Donaldson
Fans of Stephen R. Donaldson’s earlier work in the Land will find much to like here. Much of what was so good in the first two trilogies is here: conflicted characters; examinations of power and guilt, sense of loss, familiar etc. That’s both a positive and a negative, however, as there is a distinct sense of been there done that. Not overpowering, as the story does expand, deepen, and in general differ in slight, subtle ways from its predecessors. But the sense remains through much of the book,
June 30th, 2007. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Stephen R. Donaldson | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Wolf Speaker is the second of Tamora Pierce’s “Immortals Quartet” concerning fourteen-year-old Daine, a young woman who possesses “Wild Magic,” giving her the ability to communicate with animals, heal any animal wound, and in this book, to gradually change her form into any animal she wishes. Pierce jumps straight into the story without hardly any background information, so if you are unfamiliar with the fantasy realm of Tortall, I very highly recommend that you don’t begin your journey with this book: start with Wild Magic,
June 29th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Tamora Pierce | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells
Nicholas Valiarde is a man obsessed. Expertly assisted by a coterie of talented yet honorable thieves, he’s all but completed his master plan of revenge against Count Montesq, a corrupt nobleman who orchestrated the execution of Nicholas’s foster father on the basis of a false charge of necromancy. Nicholas’s plan is interrupted, however, by the appearance of the mysterious Dr. Octave, a professed medium who may or may not be a fraud, but who is somehow connected with the strange, magical spheres on which the false charge against Nicholas’s foster father was based.
June 21st, 2007. Rob Rhodes´s rating: 4 | Martha Wells | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Phoenix Guards by Steven Brust
The brief review: I had a slight smile on my face the entire time I read The Phoenix Guards. It is, as a reviewer of The Three Musketeers might have once said, “charming.”
To elaborate: Steven Brust is very well (some might say “over”) educated and knows how to turn a phrase. The plot moves along briskly; the characters, while not fleshed out too thoroughly, do have distinct and effective personalities. I was,
June 21st, 2007. Rob Rhodes´s rating: 4 | Steven Brust | SFF Reviews | no comments |
So You Want to be a Wizard by Diane Duane
So You Want to be a Wizardcame along well before the current trend of young fantasy so one shouldn’t dismiss it as “yet another Harry Potter follower.” Wizard centers on 13-yr-old Nita, a picked-upon young teen, and 12-yr-old Kit, another lonely young teen. Nita, taking refuge from bullies in the local library, stumbles across the reference book providing the title of the novel and into the world of wizardry. Shortly afterward, she meets up with Kit, who himself has just become a wizard.
June 19th, 2007. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Diane Duane | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Stormchaser is the second book of the Edge series and it is a vast improvement over book one — Beyond the Deepwoods. The book picks up a few years after Twig’s adventures in Beyond the Deepwoods. He is now sailing aboard the skyship of his recently-discovered sky-pirate father and has exchanged the monster-horrors of the Deepwoods with the more human horrors of city-life, pollution, and corruption (though monsters still make the occasional appearance).
June 12th, 2007. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Paul Stewart | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Tess is a reasonably distant and lonely child, who takes long walks out into the forest and park lands each day, returning home each evening to somewhat bemused parents. They don’t believe anything is seriously wrong with their child despite the fact she has no friends — they just think she’s a loner that loves the outdoors. But it just so happens that Tess is very different from other teenagers, and harbors a secret that she keeps from every other person on the planet. She has had the ability from a very early age to change into any animal she desires,
June 11th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Kate Thompson | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey
Jacqueline Carey returns to the lush and decadent world of Terre d’Ange in Kushiel’s Chosen, sequel to the strange but beautiful Kushiel’s Dart, and produces a sequel that unfortunately doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor.
Our masochistic heroine, Phèdre, leaves behind her comfortable new life as a country countess when she begins to suspect that all is not well in Terre d’Ange. She believes that Melisande Shahrizai, from her hiding place in La Serenissima (Venice),
June 8th, 2007. Kelly Lasiter and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5, 4 | Jacqueline Carey | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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